The North American Great Plains supports a complex and fragile prairie ecosystem. When healthy, the prairie ecosystem is able to support many unique plants and animals. One such animal is the black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes). It is the only ferret native to North America, and is an important component of the Great Plains prairie ecosystem. Its presence is an indicator of a healthy habitat. However, the black-footed ferret is endangered, with as little as an estimated 300 left in the wild. Conservation of the black-footed ferret is critical to the health of the Great Plains prairie ecosystem.
Prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.) comprise about 90% of the black-footed ferret's diet. Both black-footed ferrets and prairie dogs are highly susceptible to sylvatic plague, a disease in which both animals have little natural immunity. Plague is one of the biggest obstacles to ferret recovery because it can curtail access to a reliable food source. To prevent prairie dog populations from diminishing due to a plague outbreak, and to ensure a reliable food source for black-footed ferrets, researchers have developed an oral vaccine to protect the prairie dogs from sylvatic plague. The vaccine can be delivered in the form of a small pellet. Along with the vaccine, the pellets can also include attractants such as peanut butter to entice prompt consumption by prairie dogs. While the development of the oral vaccine has been highly successful in a confined area (e.g., in a laboratory setting, or less than a 50-acre area), a reliable and precise mechanism and method is needed to distribute the vaccine pellets on a broader scale and ensure success of the vaccine over a large area such as the black-footed ferret's habitat.
In addition to delivering the vaccine, systemic flea control products can also be delivered via a pellet in a similar fashion as the vaccine. Fleas are a vector for spreading plague, and flea control has been shown to reduce the effects of plague. Such oral delivery of flea and tick control products are widespread in the domestic pet industry. Fleas that feed on a prairie dog that has consumed one of these pellets with a systemic flea control product are likely to die.